An extensively accomplished management executive and public affairs specialist with a long history of high-level employment within the United States federal government, Pamela Berkowsky most recently served as Chief of Staff for U.S. Virgin Islands Governor John P. de Jongh, Jr. Tapped to join the administration at its outset in January 2007, Ms. Berkowsky initially maintained the role of Deputy Chief of Staff, a position that placed her in charge of the Governor's policy agenda and relations with the federal government. As Chief of Staff, she managed a staff of 125 in four offices on three different islands. In addition to managing a $9 million annual Government House budget, Pamela Berkowsky facilitated both federal and international programs, supervised Cabinet affairs, and spearheaded a number of strategic initiatives. To this end, she directed emergency management initiatives, improved public safety operations, advocated for reform in the health care and educational sectors, and was an important voice on tourism and economic development matters. Prior to her tenure in the Government of the U.S. Virgin Islands, Pamela Berkowsky was Assistant Chief of Staff to Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen. Functioning as a lead advisor to Mr. Cohen, Ms. Berkowsky also applied her skills while also serving "dual-hatted" as the Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Civil Support, a role that provided her with the opportunity to testify before Congress regarding matters of Homeland Security. Pamela Berkowsky also garnered invaluable professional experience as a Special Assistant to the Undersecretary of the Navy. Moreover, she previously held senior level posts within the State Department’s Bureau for International Narcotics Matters and elsewhere in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. Pamela Berkowsky received her Master’s degree in National Security Studies from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. She received her undergraduate degree from Princeton University’s prestigious Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, and held a Fulbright fellowship in Geneva, Switzerland. An active member of her community, Ms. Berkowsky previously served the Community Foundation of the Virgin Islands in a directorship capacity and currently sits on the Board of the Reichhold Foundation for the Performing Arts. She rounds out her civic engagement activities as a Trustee of the Antilles School, a Toddler-grade 12 accredited college preparatory institution located on the island of St. Thomas.
The Incident That Shut Down Naval and Marine Operations on Vieques
Government executive Pamela Berkowsky has held senior positions at both the state and federal levels. While serving as assistant chief of staff to U.S. Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen, Pamela Berkowsky chaired internal working groups relating to several high priority defense and military issues, including the Navy’s involvement in Vieques.
A small Caribbean island located just off the coast of Puerto Rico, Vieques became a military training location in the 1940's. While the western part of the island was used mainly for the storage of naval ammunition, the eastern section was set aside for live fire training exercises, including Marine amphibious landings.
The naval base property was returned to the Municipality of Vieques in 2001, and the Navy completed its departure in May, 2003. The closure was precipitated by waves of protests which followed the 1999 death of David Sanes Rodriguez, a civilian employee who died after two bombs struck his base security post.
Pamela Berkowsky formerly served as a special assistant to two consecutive Under Secretaries of the Navy at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. Outside of her distinguished public sector career, she enjoys a number of activities including tennis, theater, and travel. Pamela Berkowsky was also a contributor to the book Biological Weapons – Limiting the Threat.
Edited by Nobel Laureate Joshua Lederberg, and with a foreword by former Secretary of Defense and U.S. Senator William S. Cohen, Biological Weapons was published by the MIT Press to raise awareness about the risks of biological weapons and the requirement for appropriate controls and countermeasures. The text, a compilation of essays by prominent policy and technical experts in the field, presented bio-weaponry as a threat, not just to the United States, but to every citizen of the world. Published in 1999, its salient narrative centered on the capabilities of Japan’s Aum Shinrikyo cult and Iraq’s weapons research. Several of the essays featured in Biological Weapons were also first published in the Journal of the American Medical Association to examine the threat of biological warfare from a medical, scientific, and policy standpoint. Essayists in the collection include Seth Carus, Graham S. Pearson, and Jonathan B. Tucker.
Pamela Beth Berkowsky, the special assistant to the Under Secretary of the Navy, is to be married today to Dr. Adam Marc Shapiro, an otolaryngologist. Rabbi Stephen Schafer is to perform the
Pamela Berkowsky | Tumblr @pamelaberkowsky - Tumblr Blog | Tumgag
